Hebrides  News      

  Cars  I   Stuff 4 Sale   I   Jobs      

Send your local news stories and photos to:  info@hebridesnews.co.uk

A rare discovery of a 12th Century gaming piece in Iceland is fuelling fresh controversy over the mystery of the famous Lewis Chessmen.

Experts now question if the valuable hoard of Viking treasures found in Uig on Lewis in 1831 are really of Icelandic origins and not made in Norway as believed by many.

The dispute will be debated between Scandinavian and British experts at an international academic conference being held at their claimed “birthplace” at Skálholt near Iceland’s capital of Reykjavík on 19th August.

It coincides with a major “homecoming” exhibition of the walrus-ivory artefact in the Stornoway museum.

The majority of the 93 figures were acquired by the British Museum while 11 pieces are held by the National Museum of Scotland.  Experts at both museums say their design indicates they hail from Trondheim in Norway.

But this theory is challenged by the recent find of a historic chess figure, made of fish bone and wearing a helmet, shield, and sword, at Siglufjordur on Iceland’s north coast.

Archaeologists say it was probably cut in a known historic Viking craft workshop at Skálholt, about an hour outside Reykjavík. It is estimated to be about the same age as the Lewis pieces.

At that time Iceland was taken over by Gall Gaidheal, a Norse-Hebridean population of later Vikings, including their Gaelic speaking slaves, who moved on to new lands after conquering the Western Isles. Trade between the two places was common place as was longships’ routes from Norway.

Icelandic scholar, and former member of the country’s parliament, Gudmundur G. Thórarinsson theorises the 800 year-old Lewis Chessmen were carved by the same craftsmen.

He says the bishop pieces holds vital clues as the Lewis figures “are the first known sets that connect chess with the church.”

Only Iceland historically used such bishop pieces and they are mentioned in old manuscripts written around 200 years beforehand, he says.

He adds that no other country even used the word bishop at the time.

Gudmundur Thórarinsson said: “The finding certainly brings the limelight closer on Iceland.

He said “The archaeologists working at the (Siglufjordur) excavation say that the chess piece is Icelandic and that it is from 12th or 13th century, which puts it in the same time space.

“This shows that people in Iceland played chess at this time with pieces figured like the berserker (a Lewis chessman piece).

“This shows that they were carving in a similar style as the Lewis chess pieces, which can hardly be a coincidence.”

David Caldwell from the National Museum of Scotland and James Robinson of the British Museum are also due to speak at the seminar.

The hoard of valuable Viking treasures were found amongst stone bothies in a small glen by the stunning sandy beach at Ardroil by crofter Calum Macleod of nearby Pennydonald.

It contains pieces from at least four chess-sets and as the largest and best group of early chessmen to survive, they are one of the most significant archaeological discoveries ever made in Scotland and are of major international importance.

Few chessmen survive at all from the Middle Ages, and these are unparalleled in their high-quality, humour and intricacy of design.

The four  sets are split between the British Museum and the National Museum of Scotland. The two museums are pooling 30 chessmen - a third of the 93 gaming pieces - for the Stornoway display.

New discovery suggests Lewis Chessmen come from Iceland          2/8/11